Tafsir of Al-Mulk 67:8

Surah Al-Mulk (67): Verse 8

The Third Attribute:

His saying: {It almost bursts forth from rage} (takādu tamayyazu min al-ghayẓ).

It is said, "So-and-so bursts forth with rage" (yatamayyazu ghayẓan), or "he is violently agitated by rage" (yataʿaṣṣafu ghayẓan). When someone is described as excessively enraged, it is said that a flame shot out from him toward the earth and a flame toward the sky.

I suggest that the reason for this metaphor is that anger is a state occurring when the blood in the heart boils. When blood boils, its volume and mass increase, causing the vessels to expand due to the increase in bodily fluids. The more intense the anger, the more intense the boiling, the greater the expansion, and thus the greater the distension, rupture, and separation (tamayyuz) of the vessels. Therefore, mentioning this correlation serves as an allusion to the intensity of the rage.

If it is argued that fire is not among the living beings, how can it be described with rage? The answer is threefold:

1. Our view is that physical structure is not a prerequisite for life; perhaps Allah has created it with life, as it is fire.
2. The sound of its flames and the swiftness of its surging are likened to the sound and movement of an angry person.
3. It is possible that what is meant is the rage of the Zabāniyah (the angels of Hell).

The Fourth Attribute:

His saying, the Exalted: {Whenever a group is cast therein, its keepers will ask them, "Did there not come to you a warner?"} (kullamā ulqiya fīhā fawjun sa’alahum khazanatuhā a-lam ya’tikum nadhīr).

Al-Fawj means a group of people, and al-Afwāj means groups, as in His saying: {and you will come in crowds} (An-Naba’ 78:18).

{Its keepers} (khazanatuhā) refers to Mālik (the chief angel guardian) and his assistants from the Zabāniyah.

{Did there not come to you a warner?} (a-lam ya’tikum nadhīr) is a question of reprimand. Al-Zajjāj said that this reprimand serves to increase their torment.

There are two issues in this verse:

The First Issue: The Murji’ah sect used this verse as proof that none enter the Fire except the disbelievers. They argue that Allah recounts that everyone cast into the Fire said, "We denied the warner." This implies that whoever did not deny Allah and His Messenger does not enter the Fire. Note that the apparent meaning of this verse strongly suggests that the unrepentant sinner (al-fāsiq al-muṣirr) does not enter the Fire.

The Qāḍī (Al-Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār) responded by saying that the term al-Nadhīr (warner) can also refer to the admonitions and warnings inherent in human intellects, and no one enters the Fire except one who opposes these inherent proofs and does not adhere to their requirements.

The Second Issue: Those who maintain that knowledge of God and gratitude toward Him are not obligatory until the revelation (al-samʿ) arrives used this verse as proof. They argue that this verse indicates that Allah only punishes them because a warner came to them, which implies that if no warner had come, they would not have been punished.

Then, the Exalted described the response of the disbelievers to that question in two ways:

{They will say, "Yes, a warner did come to us, but we denied and said, 'Allah has not sent down a thing; you are not but in great error.'"} (Qālū balā qad jā’anā nadhīrun fakadhdhabnā wa-qulnā mā nazzala Allāhu min shay’in in antum illā fī ḍalālin kabīr).